Asia-Pacific

Oscar-winner Waltz to become Austrian citizen

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-26 13:55

VIENNA -- Hollywood star, Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz will become an Austrian citizen, Austrian media reported on Wednesday.

The Vienna-born actor, who won the 2010 Oscar award for best supporting actor for his role in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," will be granted an Austrian passport later this year, Vienna Times Online News reported.

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Waltz, 53, has been widely considered as an Austrian citizen in this central European country. However, Waltz holds a German passport like his father, while his mother is Austrian. His father applied a German citizenship for him after his birth in Vienna.

Waltz's successful career in Hollywood has made him a hugely popular entertainment figure in Austria. Therefore, the revelation by some Austrian papers that he is actually a German surprised many. Waltz, who lives in Berlin and London, has rarely talked about his nationality, but taken steps to receive Austrian citizenship.

"I was born in Vienna, grew up in Vienna, went to school in Vienna, graduated in Vienna, studied in Vienna, started acting in Vienna - and there would be a few further Viennese links. How much more Austrian do you want it?" he has said.

Waltz recently finished shooting "The Green Hornet" - an action film by Michel Gondry based on a popular TV and radio series. He will also star in an upcoming cinema adaptation of the "Three Musketeers" story.